6/30/09 -- A good day of writing. And a revealing one, as well. With the complicated plot of REVENGE OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR I'm finding it more efficient to work from the inside out. By that I mean writing each small subplot-within-a-subplot firs...

6/28/09 -- Went to the Cascades over the weekend, this time with family, which was fantastic. We climbed the gentle side of Mt Hood up to the 9,300 foot level and the base of Illumination Rock, where we were treated to a great view of the rugged w...

6/26/09 -- Wrote out on the deck for a bit today, and was reminded of how important my connection to the natural world is. I believe it's important for everyone, whether they know it or not, but especially kids. Summer is the easiest time to get o...

6/25/09 -- Took a day off yesterday to climb Mt. St. Helens and ski from its summit. No crevasse falls or whiteouts, like in STORM MOUNTAIN, thank goodness. Still, the main characters, Cat and Ty, did cross my mind many times during the day. Going...

6/22/09 -- A belated Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. I got to spend the afternoon with my oldest daughter, Kelsey, her boyfriend Tyler, and my wife, Debbie, hiking at Silver Falls State Park (see photo of Kelsey and me below). Today ...

6/16/09 -- I'm now focusing on individual subplots for REVENGE OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR. Currently, it's what I call "The Pet Issue." Cody's younger sister, Mollie (also known as Mollie the Creature, or MC for short) really wants "something more th...

6/13/09 -- In order to keep the narrative ball of REVENGE OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR rolling, I'm writing full days during the week, and at least an hour or so on Saturday and Sunday. So far so good. Still, there are moments when the volume of things...

6/8/09 -- As part of writing a sequel -- REVENGE OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR -- I'm going back and reading the original -- ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR -- and taking lots of notes. Several times today, though, I actually found myself laughing out lo...

6/05/09 -- I got completely out of author-as-traveling-speaker mode today and back into the mind set of a writer-at-work. As much as I love visiting schools and talking to kids about the writing process, it feels really great to have a stretch of ...

6/3/09 -- Home again, and this time for several weeks. Visits to Longview and Duvall, Washington both went great. One group of kids asked, "What's next?" I told them about the sequel to ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR. "What's the title going to be...

5/28/09 -- 24 hours of travel time from Brazil to Corvallis, OR, and I'm home. For a couple of days, anyway. Then it's pack up again and I'm off to the beautiful state of Washington for more school visits, the last of the 2008-2009 school year. Th...

5/12/09 -- After running a 5K race in Portland on Saturday with my daughter, Kelsey, she and Debbie and Amy and I went to Fed Ex to ship the print-out of STORM MOUNTAIN to New York. I also emailed an electronic copy. So, for now anyway, the story ...

5/8/09 -- Super busy this Friday, doing laundry and packing for 19 days on the road: school visits in Indiana, Idaho, and Washington, then ending in Brazil. Plus I'm desperately trying to finish the rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN, spell check and print...

5/04/09 -- More good news from Michael Jung, a feature writer who interviewed me a few months ago for the online magazine, Suite 101. Another article based on the interview has been published on the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, an...

4/29/09 -- I start every writing day by reading a poem or two. It's like taking a dip in pure language, which is enough in itself. But then mix in the wonderful layers of meaning a great poem can convey, and the experience is multiplied by ten. He...

4/27/09 -- Another wonderful week of school visits under my belt. Both Troutdale, Oregon and Baltimore, Maryland were a treat, filled with great kids and educators. Jotted down some fun ideas in my notebook, too, material that will almost certainl...

4/20/09 -- I'm back from Iowa, but already packing to leave again, this time for school in Troutdale, Oregon and Baltimore, Maryland. One of the joys of author visits is the thank you letters I receive from kids where I've spoken. Here's a typical...

4/15/09 -- I'm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a week of school visits. Once again I'm impressed with the incredible quality of learning experiences educators are providing for kids. See a teacher, pat them on the back. They deserve it!

4/10/09 -- Funny how sometimes life imitates art, or dog imitates dog. A librarian showed me a copy of Marley and Me, by John Grogan, the story of "the worst dog in the world." As if to say, "Oh yeah? I'm just as bad a dog as Marley. Watch this!" ...

4/7/09 -- Rewriting is progressing well on STORM MOUNTAIN. Maybe, just maybe, I got over the final hump today. It appears to be smooth sailing from here. Not to imply that all is done. There are still many details to attend to, and another read-al...